Drake

Paige returned shortly after Macy's information dump, confirming everything Macy told us. The news does nothing to reassure me about her arrival.

The Sisters and Leo leave us to get some rest. Chris and Melinda debate the implications of there being a universe full of Charmed Ones. Chris is firm on the fact our reality being the apex. The guy is adorable when he is excited.

I join the discussion, venturing to call it the Charmed-Verse. The name makes the Halliwells laugh as Wyatt and Macy arrive back to the attic. I look between them before pretending to continue reading an entry in the Book of Shadows. My eyes only move from the book when Wyatt clears his throat.

"So, we're doing this now?" Melinda asks. "Fate of the world and all, right?"

"You sound afraid." Chris prods.

"Yes. Very. Extremely." Melinda frowns. "We're going to squeeze information out of an ancient demon who is probably pissed to the max."

"We have a potion." Wyatt says.

"Is it going to kill the demon?" Melinda asks.

Macy shakes her head. "Probably not. But it'll hurt him. And you are the CH—Twice-Blessed. You have the power to do so."

"But he'll know we're coming. Psychic, remember?"

The comment leaves my lips on a snarkier tone than I mean. I close the book and walk around to the others. The comment, snarky as it may be, is not incorrect.

"Perhaps, but he's not omnipotent. His powers are not as strong in the prison." Macy says. "We would not ask this if of you if you were not capable."

"Yeah, you absolutely would." I say. "The reason they sent you is because they are very much aware of what we feel about them."

"Then, maybe you can trust me. We're actually very much alike, from what Wyatt says." Macy says.

I look to Wyatt. "And what does he say?"

"That you just came back to the Halliwells after being separated. I was the same. I didn't find my Sisters and Harry until a couple of years ago." Macy says. "It was pretty lonely without them."

"You weren't raised with your sisters?" I ask.

"No. Complications from my birth caused me to be separated from my Mother, which is also their Mother. I mean, we later found out that one of my sisters is a full blooded sister—"

"Uh huh." I nod. "I'm sorry about that. Do you regret it? Do you think it was worth?" I ask. "If you could have never met them, and stayed alive, would that have been better?"

"No. I'm glad I found them. They made my life better. No matter what magical craziness happened, it brought people in my life I cannot imagine not knowing." Macy says.

"So, what happens to the Charmed Ones in your reality? Now that you're...dead. Sorry." Melinda asks.

"Life goes on." Macy says with an attempt to be cheery.

The attempt is lost on me. I can tell she is saddened. It occurs to me she may not have discussed her death out loud with anyone. The implications have yet to fully hit her. She either has another sister she never met or the Charmed Ones of her reality will change.

I feel for her.

Wyatt cuts in, stating we should go to meet the demon. Macy is relieved. I join Wyatt, Chris, and Melinda as we orb away from the Manor. The feeling of disintegrating into orbs is like having your body scrubbed lightly at a molecular level before being shoved back together.

A creature running under my foot causes me to yelp out as I stumble back. My mind is overloaded as a bustling jungle invades my eyes.

A lemur hops onto Chris' shoulder. A terrified scream causes the lemur to hop from him to Wyatt. The three of us laugh at Chris, who fusses about the monkey.

A loud roar creates a panic in everything within the area, including us. Melinda asks about the roar being an animal before all of the other animals, including the lemur playing with Wyatt's hair, flees.

A few feet in front of us, the ground bursts open as a large brown creature with eight large tentacles rises from the Earth. The creature roars once more as a large eye opens.

I reach over and grab Wyatt's hand in fear. Melinda and Chris line up on the other side of him. He looks down at me, squeezing my hand, before looking at the demon again.

"Who has interrupted my slumber?!" Mejaihan thunders.

"We are the Twice-Blessed. We need information on the new Source." Wyatt speaks. "He is attempting—"

"I know what he is attempting, perhaps more than you. Why would I help you?" Mejaihan asks.

"His actions are putting the entire universe in danger. If he continues, he could destroy everything." Wyatt argues.

"Or, he could burn your world to cinders, leaving only us."

"It's possible. It doesn't quite work like that, does it?" Chris asks.

Mejaihan's eyes survey the four of us. Its tentacles move slowly, oscillating in a thoughtful way. I chance a look to Melinda, who is looking around the area. My eyes do a quick search when I realize something is moving in the bush.

"The Heir has promised me freedom. What could you offer to rival this?" Mejaihan asks.

"The Heir? The heir of what, exactly?" I ask.

Mejaihan's eyes blink at once as a large hole opens on its body. The hole is filled with sharp, white teeth. The hole stretches into a smirk.

"Conflicted? I should have expected you would come with them." Mejaihan says. "He has named himself the heir. His descent from one of the most powerful magical bloodlines to exist informed his decision."

"Conflicted?" Melinda asks.

"My apologies. It has not yet happened." Mejaihan says. "If you want the knowledge you seek, you will have to listen to your truths. The only truths that matter. The ones that will define you."

"What?" Chris asks. "You're going to read our fortunes? Why would you want to tell us our futures?"

"Yes or no." Mejaihan says.

Mejaihan radiates a glee I am uncomfortable with the prospect of hearing the future seems helpful, yet Mejaihan does not seem particularly helpful.

So, why would he want to tell us what happens to us?

The answer is clearer than I like. Mejaihan will clearly attempt to sew some kind of discord between us. He will not give us what we need, not right away. He wants to test us.

He enjoys it.

"Fine." Wyatt says.

"Very well, Twice-Blessed, wielder of Excalibur. The firstborn of the Charmed Line." Mejaihan says. "Your future is particularly interesting. You are the eldest. The pillar. I have seen pillars reduced to ash under the right pressure."

Wyatt is intent on Mejaihan until its eyes briefly cut to me. Wyatt glances over before his eyes return to Mejaihan. He opens his mouth to speak but is cut off by Mejaihan.

"Your power is great, but how so is your heart? What would you sacrifice for the world? Who would you trade to ensure what you have been fated to protect will be protected?" The demon asks.

"I won't have to trade anyone. I will save everyone I care about and defend the world." Wyatt says.

"Is that so?" Mejaihan asks.

"I'd bet on him." Chris says.

"Ah, the second-born. His brother's keeper. To save your family would you sacrifice more than you already have? It is within your nature to make the hard decisions, even when they are at opposition with your heart. Especially when they are." Mejaihan says. "When your heart is removed, you will be at odds with the most conflicted."

"My heart?" Chris asks.

"The conflicted, huh?" Melinda asks.

"And the youngest and most spirited. The heart. The one destined to follow in the steps of the eldest before her." Mejaihan says.

Anger overcomes me. The question of whether it is my anger is debatable, though I feel it. The feeling is like a cherry bomb that explodes in a fiery string of words, leaking through my lips.

"That's bullshit!" I shout.

The outburst catches everyone off guard, including Mejaihan. The demon's shock turns to pleasure as he blinks. His tentacles slow to a dangerously mesmerizing speed as its body turns to me in full. The bush is moving now.

"Does your surrogate family know the darkness that lies in your heart? It's there, just below the surface, marred in your tragedy. You are the truest of the beauties. The conflicted. You are the thing hidden in plain sight. The true end and beginning." Mejaihan says. "If the Heir were the villain he wishes, he would know you. You will be the betrayer, and you will serve as a reminder."

"A reminder of what?" Chris asks.

"That every force in this world has an equal, but opposing force." Mejaihan says. "The Charmed Ones will die. They will become but a myth as the Forsaken will arise."

"You're lying!" Wyatt shouts.

His anger is overwhelming. He clutches the potion tightly as he prepares to throw it. I reach out and grab his hand. Of all the emotions running through me, none seem as strong as the urge to feel nothing.

"We've played your game. Tell us what the Source wants." I say.

"I thought that would be obvious. Your overlords wish to find the All." Mejaihan says boredly.

"The All?" Melinda asks.

"Did you believe the All would just disappear? It is the source of magic. The Tribunal would have you think they hid it away. It hid itself from everyone, including those who do good. Those who absorbed it and corrupted it."

"Wait, so, the Source is looking for the Source of All Magic?" Melinda asks. "He's hopping through realities because it hid itself in another reality."

"That explains a lot, especially why the Elders are trembling in their robes." Chris says.

The bushes move behind us. The others are too engrossed to notice. I can feel minds, bewitched, moving around us. The bewitched minds have been surrounding us the entire time. A stray thought from one of them informs me they are tribesmen from a nearby village that happened upon this place by accident.

"What's wrong?" Chris asks.

"He has realized what you have overlooked, Twice-Blessed. Like flies you have wandered into my web. I would not pass up an opportunity to kill the Twice-Blessed. Your deaths will be a reminder—"

"Mel!" Wyatt yells.

The world slows to a creep as small projectiles stop in mid-air. I step forward, taking in the sight of the air shimmering around us. Melinda has always had the ability of Piper, though it seems quite different right now. Her powers are clearly temporal in nature, not molecular as I thought.

"That was close." Chris says. "How did you know?"

"I felt it. We need to break his hold over the villagers." I say. "But we can't vanquish him."

"Why not? I vote we send his ass all the way to Hell." Melinda says.

"He may come in handy later." Wyatt says. "Are you okay?"

"The Conflicted? Yeah, I'm great. I think I know a spell. Repeat after me."

The Halliwells gather around me as I begin a chant. The Halliwells begin the chant as well as the the world shimmers around us. The projectiles fly into Mejaihan and he roars as the minds of the villagers clear. The bushes rustle as the villagers flee, shouting something in a language I am not sure has been found.

"You have not won. You have already lost." Mejaihan says. "You are already surrounded, and you don't know it."

"I think we'll survive." Wyatt says. "Thank you for the information, Mejaihan. Enjoy your continued imprisonment."

Wyatt grabs my hand as Melinda and Chris orb out. Mejaihan watches us intently as the familiar feeling of disintegrating into a million small orbs overtakes me.

Drake

Macy is waiting when we arrive at the Manor. Wyatt explains what happened while we met with Mejaihan to her, revealing we are aware the All is the "artifact" we are searching for. Macy is relieved she can finally speak its name.

Macy agrees to find more information on the Source and Wyatt agrees we will begin searching for a way to narrow down the location of the All within the alternate reality before Macy leaves. Melinda leaves afterward, citing she will have a long day tomorrow.

Wyatt, Chris and I orb to our apartment, where I quietly say goodnight before heading to my room. My mind wanders as I undress, discarding my jungle-soaked clothes. A knock at the door interrupts my trek to my bed.

I open the door to see Wyatt, who is wearing only a t-shirt and a pair of boxer briefs. The waves of nervousness rolling off him is a clear indication of the severity of the accusations Mejaihan hurled my way.

"Hey." I say.

"Hey. Sorry, I just—can I come in?" He asks.

I refrain from making a joke about the time of night and allow him in. He passes me, taking in the sight of the room. I have not fully unpacked my things. The four-poster bed and the matching dresser are the largest of the things. Boxes of clothes in the corner take up space where I intend a mirror to go.

Wyatt's eyes land on my small white desk, where a picture of me with my family sits behind my closed laptop. I close the door and watch him silently before he inhales, turning to me with tired eyes.

"I fully intend to unpack within the next...century." I joke. "It's been—"

"Yeah, no, I know." Wyatt nods.

"So, you can't sleep? No offense, but you look tired, so I'm not sure I'd buy it."

Wyatt chuckles. "I'm exhausted." He says.

"So..."

"I just wanted to check on you. After Mejaihan, you seemed quiet." He says.

I walk past him to sit on the bed. I pat the bed beside me. Wyatt takes a seat beside me and I smile over at him. "I think you mean conflicted."

"You believe what he said?" Wyatt asks.

"Don't you?" I ask. "I'm still processing a lot of it, I guess. A lot of things stuck out, but I need you to answer a question."

"Not sure I like where this is going, but shoot."

"A demon lets loose a virus. It enters a long hallway and you have to magically cut it off. One exit leads to the world and the other exit leads to me..."

"Drake." Wyatt warns.

"What do you do?" I ask.

"I'm never going to—"

"The answer is simple Wyatt. You know it is."

"I'm never going to say what you want me to say. I never have and I never will." Wyatt says.

"Your destiny is more important than my life, Wyatt. Saving the world is more important than saving me. The one does not—"

"Your life means more to me than anything in this world." Wyatt says. "You still don't understand. The reason Mejaihan picked those truths were because of how strong we are together. It's stronger than it ever has been. It's why people have always tried to separate us."

"That's not the issue."

"Don't do this. Don't go backwards. The things Mejaihan said, true or not, do not define what we are. The future is known to us now, which means we have every opportunity to change it." Wyatt says. "I have always adored my parents relationship. The stories and the strength of it. I don't know what their love feels like, but I can tell you that no one has ever felt the way I have about you. I don't think anyone ever will."

His words take my breath away. Wyatt has always been a romantic, and it has always carried more weight with me than reality. Wyatt is the love of my life, no matter what happens. If I ever forget, he is always there to remind me.

My heart and mind have been at odds for quite some time now. His declaration unified both of them. My being is in agreement.

"I know we—"

"Wyatt. Stop talking." I say softly.

I scoot closer, reaching out to him. My hands slid behind his neck as I pull him closer. No further words are needed. The kiss is different. All the emotions we have been holding back are rushing to the front, transferring between us.

Wyatt, once again, has done the impossible.